The Rescuers

Wolfgang Reitherman , also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a famed Disney animator and one of Disney's Nine Old Men. Born in Munich, Germany, Reitherman's family moved to America when he was a child. After attending Pasadena Junior College and briefly working as a draftsman... for Douglas Aircraft, Reitherman returned to school at the Chouinard Art Institute, graduating in 1933. Reitherman fought in World War II for the United States Air Force, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross after serving in Africa, China, India and the South Pacific. Reitherman began working for Disney in 1934, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts, including "The Band Concert", "Music Land", and "Elmer Elephant." All in all, Reitherman worked on various Disney feature films produced from 1940, until his retirement in 1981, from Pinocchio to The Fox and the Hound .
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John Lounsbery was an American animator who worked for The Walt Disney Company. He is best known as one of Disney's Nine Old Men. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Colorado. He attended East Denver High School and the Art Institute of Denver. While attending the Art Center School of... Design in Los Angeles, an instructor sent him to interview with Walt Disney. Lounsbery was hired by Disney on July 2, 1935, beginning as an assistant animator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He went on to work on numerous other short features in the 1940s, while continuing to serve as part of the animating team on nearly all of Disney's most famous feature-length animated films. In the 1970s, he was promoted to director and directed Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! and co-directed The Rescuers. John Lounsbery died on February 13, 1976 in Los Angeles, California of heart failure during heart surgery at aged 64. At the time of his death, he was working on the The Rescuers and still animating at the Walt Disney Studios. He was named a Disney Legend in 1989.
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Arthur "Art" Stevens was an animator for The Walt Disney Company. Art started work as an inbetweener on Fantasia. When Art retired in 1983 after forty-three years he had worked in all branches of the animation department. Art's first screen credit as an animator was on Peter Pan in 1953. Art... contributed his masterful storyboard and animation talents in many Disney cartoon shorts and feature films including Ward Kimball's unit and the critically acclaimed Man in Space, Man and the Moon and Mars and Beyond space shows. Additionally, Art was one of the key animators on the Oscar-winning shorts Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom and It's Tough to Be a Bird. Over the years Art's expertise, warmth and generosity of spirit enriched the lives and careers of many young artists who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. Art retired after producing and directing Disney's The Fox and the Hound and contributing story work for The Black Cauldron. He is survived by his wife Penny, sons Craig and Kent, and grandchildren Julie, Kyle, Scott and Nicholas.
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Richard Rich is an American director and producer of animation and one of the few animation directors who has never participated as an animator. Rich is founder and owner of Crest Animation Productions. Rich started his career in the mailroom of the Walt Disney Studios but worked his way up to... first assistant director. He made his directorial debut on The Fox and the Hound and later directed The Black Cauldron. Rich departed from Disney in 1986 and established Rich Animation Studios, later re-named RichCrest. He directed The Swan Princess in 1994 which led-up to two sequels. Besides feature films, Rich has produced direct-to-video series such as Animated Stories from the New Testament, Animated Stories from the Bible, Animated Stories from The Book of Mormon, Animated Hero Classics and K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments. His most recent credit is as producer on the computer-animated comedy drama film Alpha and Omega.
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